Forest Stewardship

Forestland on Whidbey is one of our prized natural resources. Our 52 mile island highway is lined with trees almost the entire way. Nestled in the woods are many houses, shops, and businesses, all cozy and hidden in evergreen privacy. At the Conservation District, we are here to support Whidbey landowners in sustainably managing and conserving private forestland for future generations to enjoy.

Forest stewardship means recognizing that a healthy forest is about more than trees – our forests are an interactive community of plants, animals, soil, and water. If you’re a forest landowner, you may enjoy your forest property daily as a permanent residence, or you may own it as a family investment. Either way, when you walk your forest, questions can understandably come up. Is your forest healthy? How can it be managed to ensure it’s health into the future?

To get started, check out our top three resource guides linked below, which have been tailored specifically to what's relevant and helpful to you as a small forest landowner on Whidbey Island based on our work with landowners in recent years.
Learn a bit about our Forest Stewardship services from Natural Resource Planner Kelsi Mottet.

Ready to get started?

WICD's Natural Resource Planners provide no-cost technical assistance for all Whidbey Island residents and landowners.
Do you need assistance on your property with a natural resource challenge or goal?

Please note that we are currently undergoing some staff transitions, so may have a few weeks delay in responding to your request. We appreciate your understanding and patience in this matter, and encourage you to explore the resources on our website in the interim.
“This is tree-growin’ country! I think people that make a living in a resource or with a resource have to think: How’s it going to be in 20 years? I want to still be doing this, and how is that going to happen?”

Forest Resources

Click a Tab Below for More Resources:
WSU  Ext.  FoRestry & WA Dept. of Natural Resources

WSU Extension Forestry

 Washington State University Extension's Puget Sound Forest Stewardship Program has a host of fantastic forestry education and landowner resources. To read an overview of the programs and services of the WSU Extension Forestry Program, click here.

Program Contact for Additional Questions:
​Click here for direct access to a list of the WSU Extension Forestry Program contacts.

WICD is often asked: Who can I get to assist me in developing a forest management plan if Whidbey Island Conservation District staff are unavailable? WSU Extension Forestry has developed and maintains a "Forester & Silvicultural Contractor Directory" for landowners in the Puget Sound region. A consulting forester provides professional forest management services to landowners, while a silvicultural contractor provides the labor and equipment to perform forest management tasks, including site preparation, tree planting, vegetation control, pre-commercial thinning, slash disposal, etc. This searchable online directory is state-wide in scope and up-to-date. You can hire a consulting forester to help you develop your forest management plan.

Here are some additional resources worth exploring:

WA Dept. of Natural Resources

Small Forest Landowner Field

​Office

Washington State Department of Natural Resources maintains a Small Forest Landowner Office where they seek to provide you and other family forest owners with technical and financial assistance that helps you meet your objectives for your forest lands. Contact a Stewardship Forester for added guidance and professional expertise that compliment partners like the WSU Extension Forestry and local conservation district planning staff.

Program Contact for Additional Stewardship Related Questions:
Matt Provencher
Stewardship Forester
360-902-1494
​matthew.provencher@dnr.wa.gov 

Here are some additional resources worth exploring:
  • Visit the WA DNR Small Forest Landowner Office homepage at https://www.dnr.wa.gov/sflo
  • Forest Stewardship & Technical Assistance Foresters are available for consultation by phone, email, and, if you own 10 or more acres, through an in-person site visit - contact information by region can be found here
  • You can learn about DNR financial assistance programs by clicking here
  • If you have questions about timber management and harvest, you can learn more at DNR's Technical Assistance page here 
  • To learn more about the forest practices permitting process, click here or read the abbreviated Forest Practices Illustrated Guide designed to help forest owners, loggers, and others better understand Washington State Forest Practices Rules and how they protect fish, water, wildlife, state, and municipal capital improvements and other public resources. 
  • Check out DNR's Forest Health Resources page

WA Dept. of Natural Resources

​Forest Practices Permitting

Washington State Department of Natural Resources offers phone consultation from their Small Forest Landowner Regulation Assistance Foresters on questions you may have related to the details of forest practices permitting. If you're a forest land owner and are contemplating or preparing for any type of forest practice, such as thinning your trees to gain income, or a final harvest of a stand of trees, you'll want to contact a forest practices permitting forester to provide you with guidance on executing your forest practice successfully.  Two contacts, one regionally based and one state-wide based, are helpful DNR Forest Practices Forester contacts below you can reach out to. Be sure, too, to check out the Forest Practices Illustrated Guide for a good orientation to your responsibilities are a forest landowner in accomplishing forest practices on your land.

Program Contact for Forest Practices Permitting Questions:
Bud Wescott
Forest Practices Forester
Based out of the DNR Sedro-Wooley office
bud.wescott@dnr.wa.gov 

​Here is a publication with guidance on forest practices in Island County.
forest stewardship resources

Forest Stewardship Resources

If you are looking for a consulting forester, logger, reforestation expert, or another forestry professional to assist you with the management of your forest, consider searching the WSU Extension Forestry Consulting Directory. Click here to learn more.

If you are looking for small scale professional sawyers at local mills, consider searching the WSU Extension Forestry Small Scale Sawmill Directory. Click here to learn more.
Forest Management for INTRODUCTORY RESOURCES
Forest Management for HEALTH
Forest Management for WILDLIFE
Forest Management for CLIMATE ADAPTATIONS
Forest Management for REFORESTATION
Forest Management for SILVICULTURE - CONIFERS
Forest Management for SILVICULTURE - HARDWOODS
FEDERAL FUNDING ASSISTANCE for Forest Landowners

USDA Natural Resources

​Conservation Service

E.Q.I.P. 

United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service is a federal agency with field offices located throughout Washington state to assist in voluntary conservation on rural lands. NRCS offers many voluntary programs to eligible landowners and agricultural producers to provide financial and technical assistance to help manage natural resources in a sustainable manner. Through these programs, the agency approves contracts to provide financial assistance to help plan and implement conservation practices that address natural resource concerns or opportunities to help save energy, improve soil, water, plant, air, animal and related resources on agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest land.

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provides eligible forest landowners who have an approved forest plan an opportunity to access funding assistance to help implement certain approved forest management practices on their property. If you are interested in this opportunity and wish to learn more if your property and management practices may be eligible for EQIP,  contact the NRCS Forester who serves Island County residents.
  • To learn about Forestry & EQIP in a short introductory brochure, click here.
  • To visit the EQIP FAQ page, click here.
  • ​To learn more about how to sign-up for EQIP, click here.​
Mt. Vernon Field Office - USDA NRCS:
Kathy Smith
Forester
kathryn.e.smith@usda.gov
(360) 428-7684
Office Location can be found by visiting here.
COUNTY tax incentive Programs for Forest Landowners

Washington Dept. of Revenue &
​

Island County Assessor Dept.


​Designated Forest Land Program

Washington State encourages sound forestry practices so that present and future generations can enjoy the many benefits they provide. In addition to scenic and recreational spaces, healthy forests provide: an enhanced water supply; reduced soil erosion, storm and flood control damage; habitat for wild game; employment opportunities; raw materials for products.

As a way to encourage commercial forestry in Washington State, landowners may choose to have their land designated as forest land. This designated often results in a lower assessed value and lower taxes. Specific requirements must be met to qualify for this designation. The Designated Forest Land Program is managed by the Island County Assessor's Department and is a program overseen by the Washington State Department of Revenue. 

To be eligible to apply, a property must be five (5) or more acres or multiple parcels of land that are contiguous and total five or more acres that is or are devoted primarily to the growing and harvesting of timber. Designated forest land means the land only and does not include a residential home site. The term includes land used for incidental uses that are compatible with the growing and harvesting of timber, but no more than ten percent (10%) of the land may be used for such incidental uses. It also includes the land on which appurtenances necessary for the production, preparation, or sale of the timber products exist in conjunction with land producing these products. To learn more about whether your forest property can qualify, click here. ​To view requirements for timber management plans, a component of entering into the Designated Forest Land Program, click here.

To be directed to the Island County Assessor Current Use Exemptions page, where you can access the Designated Forest Land Program application forms, continuance forms, and other resources, click here.

​Designated Forest Land Contact at Island County:
Jason Joiner
Current Use Appraiser Interim & Chief Deputy Assessor
Assessor.CurrentUse@islandcountywa.gov
​(360) 678-7866

Island County Planning Dept.

​Public Benefit Open Space

​ Rating System


The Public Benefit Open Space Rating System is part of the Open Space Taxation Act, too, and is administered by the Island County Planning Department. As shared above, the Open Space Taxation Act, enacted in 1970, allows property owners to have their open space valued at their current use rather than at their highest and best use. The Act states that it is in the best interest of the state to maintain, preserve, conserve, and otherwise continue in existence adequate open space lands for the production of food, fiber, and forest crops and to assure the use and enjoyment of natural resources and scenic beauty for the economic and social well-being of the state and its citizens.

Island County Code Chapter 3.40, in addition to state law, governs the Public Benefits Rating System (PBRS) program in Island County. To have your property enrolled in the PBRS program, visit the Island County PBRS homepage by clicking here.

​To be eligible to apply to PBRS, a property must be at least five (5) acres in size and contain at least one (1) open space resource. If a property includes a residence, a minimum of one (1) acre of the property, inclusive of the home-site, will not be eligible for PBRS enrollment. Read the reference guide below to learn more about open space resources. Unlike the Farm and Agriculture classification administered by the Island County Assessor, there are no income requirements for this program, rather, what open space elements are present on the property contribute to a point value that ultimately leads to a specific reduced valuation if your application is accepted. 
​
  • Click here to view the PBRS application packet.
  • Click here to view the reference guide that accompanies the PBRS application packet.

Public Benefit Rating System Contact at Island County:
Meredith Penny
Long Range Planner
m.penny@islandcountywa.gov
(360) 678-7807

"BMP" Spotlight:  Biochar

"BMPs" or Best Management Practices are specific actions residents and landowners can take in managing natural resources on land that conserve the land's integrity, function, and value.

Biochar is charcoal that is produced by pyrolysis of biomass, yet in the absence of oxygen, and is used as a soil ameliorant for both carbon sequestration and soil health benefits. For example, in garden, agriculture, and forestry settings, when you pre-age and add nutrients to biochar you can supercharge root membrane potential, increase plant growth promoting microbes, reduce nutrient leaching, and increase soil water holding capacity.

Resources:

Red Alder Management Webinar

Many of us own aging red alder forests. Check out this webinar from the recent Washington State University Extension Forestry Forest Owners Winter School 2021 that provides helpful knowledge and tips for how best to manage your alder stand.

Island County Assessor’s Designated Forest Land (DFL) Program 

If you are a current legal landowner of forest property, and you would like assistance with:
  • Entering the DFL program as a new applicant
  • Staying in compliance with the DFL program, such as preparing for putting your property on the market and needing to update an older forest management plan
The conservation district provides free, non-regulatory technical assistance to landowners who qualify. Learn more about the DFL program here, check out the "County Tax Incentive Programs for Forest Landowners" resource tab for information near the end of this page.

​If you’d like to request forest plan assistance, please contact our office at (888) 678-4922 or fill out the form below to be contacted by a natural resource planner.

For buyers of properties that are in the Designated Forest Land Program, we offer consultation in regards to the process of transference, and can share resources and referrals. We unfortunately can not create forest plans for buyers who do not own the acreage yet, but a private consulting forester can help you. There are three directories worth perusing to locate a private sector professional who can assist you in writing a forest plan. Feel free to contact us if you have questions about this process.
Next Board Meeting:
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
9am - 12pm
This board meeting will be held online - Zoom. Please contact us if you'd like to attend and we will send you the remote meeting information.

Board Monthly Meeting Details:
  • See this year's list of upcoming and past board meeting dates - click here to access.
  • Board meetings are held online via Zoom - please contact us to be sent connection details.
  • Board meetings are open to the public.
  • Past meeting minutes & agendas can be found here.
Connect with Us
Office Hours:
Monday - Friday
8am- 4:30pm
Our office is currently closed to the public due to COVID-19 health precautions.
(mailing) PO Box 490
(office location) 1 NE 4th Street
Coupeville, WA 98239
360-678-4708